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Problems Persist at Privately-Operated Rhode Island Jail

Article • August 15, 2010 • from PLN August, 2010

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Private Prisons, Guard Misconduct, Jail Misconduct, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Problems Persist at Privately-Operated Rhode Island Jail by Justin Miller On June 30, 2009, a former employee at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility, a privately-operated jail near Providence, Rhode Island, pleaded guilty to lying to federal officials about sexual misconduct involving an immigration detainee, marking yet another embarrassing problem …

$56,274 Verdict in Negligent Rhode Island Maintenance Claim

Article • May 15, 2008 • from PLN May, 2008

Filed under: Exercise, Civil Procedure, Evidentiary Ruling, Premises Liability

$56,274 Verdict in Negligent Rhode Island Maintenance Claim by A Rhode Island state jury awarded a prisoner $56,274 for a claim that alleged prison officials failed to properly maintain exercise equipment, which cased the prisoner injury. The action was filed by prisoner James Bernardo, who was imprisoned at Rhode Island?s …

Rhode Island Pays $120,000 To Prisoner Forced To Eat Feces

Article • August 15, 2007 • from PLN August, 2007

Filed under: Guard Misconduct, Searches, Strip Searches, Body Cavity Searches, Criminal Prosecution, Sewage, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Rhode Island Pays $120,000 To Prisoner Forced To Eat Feces by Michael Rigby The State of Rhode Island has paid $120,000 to settle with a prisoner who was forced by guards to eat his own feces. While serving a six month sentence for shoplifting at the Adult Correctional Institution (ACI) …

Publisher and Prisoner Entitled to Due Process

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Discrimination, Gay/Lesbian, Publications/Books, Due Process

Publisher and Prisoner Entitled to Due Process by A federal court in Rhode Island noted that the Supreme Court established minimum due process rights in prison mail cases in Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396, 94 S.Ct. 1800 (1974) holding that prisoners are entitled to "be notified of the rejection …

Rhode Island DOC May Be Liable for Virginia's Treatment of Prisoners

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Out of State Transfers, Misconduct/Corruption, Threats by Staff, Restraints, Municipal Liability

Rhode Island DOC May Be Liable for Virginia's Treatment of Prisoners by The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals held that Rhode Island corrections officials may be liable for unconstitutional treatment of Rhode Island prisoner held in Virginia prisons. Bernardo Figueroa is a prisoner in custody of the Rhode Island …

Arbitrator Cannot Override Rhode Island DOC Director's Discipline of Guard

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Guards/Staff, Employee Litigation

Arbitrator Cannot Override Rhode Island DOC Director's Discipline of Guard by The Rhode Island Supreme Court held the Director of the Department of Corrections (DOC) has the ultimate authority to impose discipline on guards and such authority cannot be overridden by an arbitrator. Guard Thomas Ryan was assigned to watch …

Supreme Court Prohibits School Prayer

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Religious Freedom, Required Religious Programming

Supreme Court Prohibits School Prayer by The United States Supreme Court held that public schools may not include invocations and benedictions in the form of prayer at graduation ceremonies. This action was brought by a student of the Providence, Rhode Island public schools and her father, who sought a temporary …

Rhode Island Prisoner Awarded $2,000 for Fractured Wrist

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Medical, Skeletal Injury, Premises Liability

Rhode Island Prisoner Awarded $2,000 for Fractured Wrist by On April 2, 1996, a jury in Providence County, Rhode Island awarded $2,000 to a state prisoner who was injured when a platform collapsed beneath him. Prisoner Lucas Tiberio, 20, was lifting weights when the platform on which he was seated …

Federal Detainee May Pursue Bivens Action Against Private Prison Guards

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Cornell Corrections, Failure to Protect (General), Civil Procedure, Parties, Contractor Liability

Federal Detainee May Pursue Bivens Action Against Private Prison Guards by In a matter of first impression, the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island held that a federal pretrial detainee could pursue a Bivens action against guards employed by a privately operated detention facility. Plaintiff George …

Ten Years in Segregation Unconstitutional

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Civil Procedure, Injunctions

Ten Years in Segregation Unconstitutional by The court of appeals for the First circuit affirmed a Rhode Island district court injunction ordering a prisoner's release from segregation after ten years. The lower court ruling is published at: 549 F. Supp. 291. The injunction required prisoner's integration from segregation to general …

Governor Held in Contempt in RI Crowding Suit

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Overcrowding, Civil Procedure, Contempt (Civil Procedure)

Governor Held in Contempt in RI Crowding Suit by A federal district court in Rhode Island held that the state's governor and director of prisons were in continuing contempt for failing to comply with previous orders to correct unconstitutional prison conditions. Court previously held that prisoners and detainees could not …

RI Jail Liable for Attorney Fees

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Attorneys, Attorney Fee Awards

RI Jail Liable for Attorney Fees by After winning a jail conditions lawsuit, the district court awarded Rhode Island jail detainees $115,483.79 in attorney fees and costs. The defendants appealed, arguing actual lawyer fees should be used to compute fees, not the market rate. The court of appeals for the …

$75,000 Award Upheld in Use of Carcinogense Blood Detection Agency

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Medical Experiments/Exploitation, Mechanical Searches/Scanners, Police Searches, Prison/Jail Murders, Toxic Fumes/Chemicals, State Law Claims, Immunity/Liability, Supervisory Liability

$75,000 Award Upheld in Use of Carcinogense Blood Detection Agency by The First Circuit has ruled that the forcible application of benzidine, known as a primary carcinogen, to prisoner's bodies was a constitutional violation and sufficient to warrant damages. On November 2 and 3, 1974, Douglas S. Gomes and several …

RI Enjoined from Indiscriminate Strip Searches

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Searches, Strip Searches, Arrestee Searches, Body Cavity Searches, Injunctions, Declaratory Judgment

RI Enjoined from Indiscriminate Strip Searches by A federal district court in Rhode Island entered declaratory relief that held that the Rhode Island Department of Corrections' policy on strip and visual body cavity searches was unconstitutional as applied to pre arraignment detainees where no prior determination of reasonable suspicion has …

Property Destruction and Retaliation Claims Reversed

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Retaliation for Litigating, Money/Property, Prisoner Property

Property Destruction and Retaliation Claims Reversed by The First Circuit Court of Appeals held a Rhode Island Prisoner stated claims of retaliation and deprivation of property without due process, but rejected the medical treatment claim. The district court dismissed all claims, for failure to state a claim. The complaint avered …

Rhode Island Guard Pay Reduction Law Upheld

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Guards/Staff, Employee Litigation, Guard Unions

Rhode Island Guard Pay Reduction Law Upheld by The legislature amended a statute changing the method for compensating officers who earned education credits from a percentage of their salary to a flat rate. This action did not violate the Contract Clause, since the statute did not make it "unmistakably clear" …

Denial of Interest May Violate Due Process

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Money/Property, Interest

Denial of Interest May Violate Due Process by A federal court in Rhode Island held that a prisoner stated a claim that denial of interest on his funds deprived him of procedural due process. Rhode Island Department of Corrections (DOC) prisoner Edward Young brought suit alleging that the denial of …

Blood for Good Time Creates Liberty Interest

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Medical, Medical Experiments/Exploitation, Blood, Good Time

Blood for Good Time Creates Liberty Interest by A federal district court in Rhode Island held that a Rhode Island statute giving prisoners time off their sentences in exchange for blood donations by prisoners created a liberty interest. Prisoner plaintiff was transferred out of state where he could not reduce …

Out of State Counsel Entitled to Full Fees, Costs

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Attorney Fee Awards, Civil Procedure, Costs

Out of State Counsel Entitled to Full Fees, Costs by The court of appeals for the First circuit held that the Rhode Island prisoners who prevailed in a prison conditions of confinement suit were entitled to attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 for their out of state lawyers. The …

Beating States Claim, Medical Misdiagnosis Doesn't

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Medical, Misdiagnosis, Guard Brutality/Beatings

Beating States Claim, Medical Misdiagnosis Doesn't by A federal district court in Rhode Island held that a prisoner had stated an Eighth amendment claim that he had been hit in the ribs and groin by three guards. Court held that a misdiagnosis of leukemia did not state an Eighth amendment …